CHAPTER 7: WRITING
Writing is a productive skill and, as such, the way we treat it in class has some
similarities with the teaching and learning of speaking. The focus of this chapter will be
longer written assignments and creative writing; we will not cover written exercises that
are designed to practise a language point. Let’s first of all review what was mentioned
in Chapter 4 and apply the principles to the teaching of writing.
The key elements to consider in the teaching of writing are:
7.1 Language
It is essential to make sure that your students have the level of English required to do
the task. Analyse any tasks for language required before deciding whether to use it in
class. If you are using an activity from an EFL resource, then there should be
comments on the language required. If you don’t have any guidelines on the language
required, think about how you would do the task yourself and what sort of language
you’d use. Check whether the level is suitable, and then decide how you will revise and
practise language items with your students. This language work can be done in the
same lesson as the writing activity or in a previous lesson. At higher levels (upper-
intermediate and above), this language review can be very brief. Depending on the
type of written task, the language work might include analysis and practice of genre.
Genre refers to a type of writing, e.g. recipes, lonely hearts ads, newspaper articles
that have similar organisation and language. Language study might also involve work
on linkers, for example: although, furthermore, alternatively. Students also need to be
aware of the level of formality that is required; for example a business letter will be
more formal than a postcard or e-mail to a friend.
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